Disintegrating Madness
by Shadow Oblivion
Summary: Flug accidentally creates a device capable of causing lasting harm to Black Hat, which leads to a series of escalating events about just how far Flug should go with his inventions. Specifically when more begin to cause his boss actual injury. Figuring out the limits sooner rather than later is imperative, as heroes and villains alike have caught wind of the incidents.
1. Disintegration Gun

A/N: …I knew as soon as I saw Villianous stuff that it would only be a matter of time before I started writing fanfic of it. I have fallen hard for this fandom but mostly for its characters (surprised it took nearly a whole year to come across it).

Warnings: Blood, violence, attempted kidnapping/kidnapping, torture/psychological torture, mental and physical abuse.

Also note: There will be original characters in this (heroes and villains) as well as a demon oc for plot purposes. I feel that most people (myself included) find fics to read about canon characters, so the focus will try to be on them as much as possible except for when an oc is necessary to advance the plot along/have the canon characters interact with (like in a fight).

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Almost done.

He was almost done. One more small component to take care of and it would be finished.

A masterpiece.

It would be a masterpiece.

Even Black Hat would have to be impressed.

…hopefully.

It was certainly going to go over better than the anti-gravity device.

Barely daring to breathe, Dr. Flug carefully, oh so carefully, fiddled with a piece of metal to get it into the device he had been working on for the last several days…or had it been weeks? He couldn't be entirely sure now.

Click.

Good. One more small adjustment and he'd be done. Flug stifled a yawn as he peered at the last piece to be assembled. A glint appeared on his goggles as he turned his head to the side. A hidden smile surfaced beneath the bag he wore. This was going to be the best thing he had made in months.

An invention that would disintegrate trespassers on contact. Different from the security ones, as it would be unable to be detected by a hero until it was too late. And it could be used by a villain directly or remotely.

Flug held the final fragile piece of metal and prepared to install it. His boss couldn't tell him he'd been wasting his time on this. The demon would have to admit the device's brilliance.

Almost there…

"FLUG!" An unholy grinding screech of pure rage echoed from outside the lab. Several writhing tentacles slammed open the doors to the lab.

Flug let out a yelp as he stood abruptly, arms flailing and accidentally knocking the device off the table. An intake of horrified breath was not aimed at the approaching dark tentacles or the sharply bared teeth of his boss but at what was to be his best accomplishment falling to its doom.

"No!" Flug desperately dove for the device, only to have it hit the ground inches from his hands and shatter into pieces. Flug landed on the ground soon after and the resulting shock caused the final piece of the device to spiral out of his hand and straight into Black Hat's face.

A snarl sounded upon impact and Flug barely had time to bemoan the loss of hours upon hours of work when he was hoisted abruptly into the air, a tentacle coiled around his waist. It brought Flug almost face to face with his boss, who seemed none too pleased with the piece of metal that had lodged itself into his forehead. What was more unnerving was the sensation of sharp teeth in the tentacle around Flug's waist casually gnawing on his clothes.

"I-I'm sorry!" Flug stuttered out, gloved hands reaching up to grasp the bag over his head as his boss bared his teeth at him unpleasantly. "Y-you startled me."

"What is this mess?" Black Hat ground out as he reached up with a clawed hand and yanked the small piece of metal out of his head. A tiny mouth with minuscule teeth leered at Flug before it vanished. The mark on the demon's forehead was gone. Black Hat glared with his visible eye, silently demanding an answer.

"The new disintegration gun that will shoot out a ray." Flug answered nervously, still aware of the teeth that were now casually munching a hole into his lab coat.

"Oh?" Black Hat's eye flashed at that, and, with his free hand, waved at the broken pieces.

The device was whole again.

"Finish it." A tentacle brought the disintegration gun up and held it before Flug. Black Hat slapped the piece of metal into the doctor's hand.

Aware of the way Black Hat watched him, Flug didn't dare wonder aloud whether he would be set down or not. His boss didn't seem inclined to set him down anytime soon, so Flug shakily finished piecing the device together. His touch was steadier by the time he pushed a few buttons. "I…it's done." Flug grimaced as Black Hat took the disintegration gun in hand and walked out of the lab. Flug didn't really have any say where he was being taken, as one of the tentacles poking out of his boss' back was still firmly wrapped around his middle.

Black Hat went outside and turned his head to and fro, before he grinned and aimed the new invention. The trigger was pulled and the bird the demon had aimed it at was vaporized in an instant.

Grin widening, Black Hat twirled the disintegration gun idly as he shot a red beam from his monocle at another bird that dared get near enough.

"A recreation of one of my abilities, Doctor?" Black Hat asked, a hint of danger to the words. "As amusing as it is, I fail to see how this puny…gun, would have any use apart from close range attacks."

"It…it can be programmed to be fired remotely, so you don't actually have to fire it yourself." Flug said breathlessly when he felt the tentacle constrict, the pressure threatening to crack ribs.

"I see." A wide, terrifying grin split the demon's face as he studied Flug for a moment. The grin deepened. "…I believe I have devised a way to test if it is useful up close and personal."

With a grunt, Flug found himself unceremoniously droppped to the ground. The scientist flinched away immediately at the sight of Black Hat brandishing the disintegration gun in his direction. Flug quivered from head to toe at the sight of the shit-eating grin that had made its way onto his boss' face as a forked tongue lolled out.

"Run." The word was spoken with a hint of sadistic glee. "Do give me a good chase, doctor."

Flug scrambled to his feet and took off with a sound somewhere between a plea for mercy and a shriek of fear when a shot disintegrated the ground near his foot.

The chase and the fun of terrorizing his employee ended for the eldritch demon when Flug tripped over his own feet. Black Hat made a disgruntled sound at the sight of Flug curled up into a ball, apparently resigned to his fate since he didn't try to get back up.

Black Hat inspected the small device in his hands with a sharp, toothy grin. Yes, this device would do nicely. Now, if he could only get the doctor to mass produce them, he could profit off the villains who liked the idea of disintegrated heros. Surely there was a market for an easy way to deal with pests.

The production would have to wait, seeing as the stress and terror had apparently been too much. It had left Black Hat with an unconscious Flug.

Humans.

Black Hat's lip curled, showing off an array of fangs.

So fragile.

Black Hat collected Flug and went back indoors, moody again for having to now wait for the doctor to recooperate from his latest stint of obsession and no proper food and sleep. And the terrifying chase too, Black Hat supposed, as entertaining as it had been.

Some hours later…

Flug was woken from his exhausted slumber by a snarl from Black Hat echoing down a hall.

"Demencia! Put that down!"

Something, presumably the disintegration gun, went off several times.

Flug flinched involuntarily when a demonic shriek echoed, and wondered, belatedly, whether or not the device would actually work on his boss.

"Flug…you…you…"

A low, rumbling growl emanated from the room as darkness descended. Black Hat loomed toward the bed, dark tentacles lashing every which way as eyes and mouths and other horrors sprouted from the writhing limbs. The demon's body became decidedly less humanoid in shape as mouths and eyes and other things appeared at random, Black Hat's voice deepening and echoing louder and louder. Sheer rage laced each ground out word, saliva drooling out of the many mouths.

 **"None. Of. Your. Toys. Are. To. Hinder. Me.** "

Flug hid under the blankets at the approaching demon, the fury and outrage palpable.

Shit.

 **"You can't hide from me!"**

Flug let out a choked scream as a tentacle wrenched him out from beneath the blankets by the legs and dangled him upside down to watch the approaching horror. Flug squeezed his eyes shut, the red gleaming eye, the myriad of teeth and other dangerous sights too much to handle.

Who knew that having a furious boss with damaged tentacles could be so frightening?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: I'm going to post chapters first on Tumblr, and then here and on Ao3 when I get to new chapters. Still feeling the characters out, so we'll see if it is ic or not. And as an FYI to anyone unfamiliar with my writing, I enjoy tormenting the characters that I like. Future notes will be at the end of chapters. Only warnings will appear at the top of a chapter from now on.


	2. Shakeup

The darkness in the room seemed to increase tenfold now that Black Hat had a tendril wrapped around Flug's legs. The scientist was going nowhere and yet he struggled to free himself despite the futility of the action.

Black Hat tightened the limb around Flug's legs a little tighter, causing the doctor to reach for it with one hand while the other clutched the bag to prevent it from slipping off his head.

Flug's breathing had become erratic and it was rather surprising that he hadn't fainted as of yet.

Black Hat turned his head to the side, watching the way the gloved hand gripped the tendril. It was laughable that the doctor thought he could get away. Not to mention it was ridiculous that Flug thought he could cower under the blankets like a child and avoid being confronted about his newest invention. Or rather, be terrorized over the fact that his new device had been able to cause temporary damage to the demon.

A damaged tendril was lifted up for Black Hat to give it a once over, and bared his fangs. The fact that it hurt just a little bit was enough justification to just bury the damn doctor into the ground. Get rid of him, before any ideas got into Flug's head about causing the eldritch demon more permanent harm.

A sharp, terrifying grin formed.

Black Hat would just have to make it clear that those ideas were best left forgotten.

Flug had begun to stutter the beginning of words from underneath that infernal bag of his but apparently the terror prevented him from finishing the thought. Or of saying anything intelligent at present.

That was fine.

Black Hat was furious and having Flug speak in that moment would interrupt that anger. Because how dare the doctor make a device that was capable of causing damage to his body? While it was quite easy to fix the problem, it was another matter entirely that he had to fix the...injury...in the first place.

This issue was to be addressed at once.

-x-x-x-

Flug made an embarrassing 'eep' sound when he felt the dark tentacles around his legs form teeth. He couldn't see well from where he was upside down but he sure as hell felt the stings of pain. He actually had his eyes closed so he didn't see all the horrors bursting out of his boss' form. The teeth casually beginning to gnaw through his jeans caused Flug to struggle but he went limp again when he felt the tiny teeth bite harder. Flug did the only thing he could think of and started to babble.

"I...I'm sorry!" Flug managed to say. At a low, disbelieving snarl made from several mouths, he added, with a squeak. "T-the disintegration gun c-can be adjusted."

"...That would be ideal. It would be a such shame to lose such an interesting weapon." Black Hat said in a normal voice, even if his body was still far from humanoid in shape. The various tentacles were inching closer to Flug as if contemplating wrapping around the hapless doctor and giving him a squeeze just to draw out the fear the demon could sense.

"I can fix it." Flug said, a whimper catching in his throat when he made the mistake of opening his eyes and was met with Black Hat's gleaming red eye not an inch away from the bag over his head. Flug shook at the sight of those fangs so close to him as his boss spoke, each word clipped and precise.

"You had better fix this, doctor." The saliva that dripped from the main set of teeth as Black Hat ground out his words was unsettling. The teeth, from all the mouths that had formed, snapped together like a bear trap as a cacophony of voices spoke, the words laced with venom. " **It would be quite bothersome to be forced to look for someone as competent as you are in the lab."**

Flug might have taken that as a compliment but when delivered in such a horrifying way, there was only one thing his poor overwhelmed mind allowed him to do.

He fainted, body going limp in his boss' grasp.

-x-x-x-

Black Hat let out an incensed sound even as he set the unconscious Flug back onto the bed. The tentacles retracted and after healing the damage with a low growl, Black Hat forced his body back into a more humanoid shape, adjusting the tie absently.

Glaring down at the doctor, whose bag had somehow miraculously stayed on throughout the exchange, Black Hat spun on his heels and stalked off. But not before waving a hand and leaving a scrap of paper on Flug's chest, indicating that if the doctor valued his life, he would get to fixing the problem with the disintegration gun. And he would do it immediately upon waking and was to come to Black Hat's office the moment he had fixed it.

Black Hat was pleasantly surprised that he only needed to wait a day before there was a timid knock at his office door.

"Enter."

Flug poked his head into the room, body language all but screaming his desire to be anywhere but his boss' office. Upon seeing the expression on Black Hat's face, Flug hastily entered the office, disintegration gun in hand.

"I...I made the adjustments." Flug whispered, and when the demon just stared at him, he spoke a little louder, "I finished it."

"That didn't take long." Black Hat grinned as he idly tapped a finger on the desk. "How about a demonstration, doctor?" Not giving Flug any time to speak, shadows began to trace lazily along the walls behind Black Hat, and a single tendril appeared out of it, and bent at an angle, providing Flug with a target.

"Y-you want me to s-shoot you?" Flug stuttered, appearing nervous as he watched the swaying limb.

"If you fixed the deivce as you said you would, then it shouldn't do anything to me." Fangs bared themselves at the doctor. "Think of it as a test. I want these in production but I don't want anyone getting any ideas to attack their supplier."

"B...but..."

"Now, Flug." Black Hat snapped, the darkness behind him deepening. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Flug jumped at that and squeezed his eyes shut after taking aim. Flug squeezed the trigger to send off a shot in the direction of the lazily swaying tentacle that Black Hat had formed. The resulting demonic shriek was not what the doctor wanted to hear. Flug instinctively dropped to the ground, letting go of the disintegration gun in the process as some tentacles lashed out at him in retaliation. Arms went over his head protectively as Flug heard Black Hat's voice raise in a furious snarl, clearly losing himself as he flooded his office in darkness.

" **You idiot! I said make it less effective on me! Not this...potent**!"

Flug dared to peek from underneath his arms and his stomach flipped. When he had shot the disintegration gun, he had actually missed the tendril and had accidentally shot Black Hat in the side. Black Hat's form was wavering, all manner of horrors poking out of his body, but at the shot zone, there was nothing but a gaping hole.

Odd.

Flug curled up into a quivering ball when Black Hat approached him, and missed the limp that was present. Flug's mind buzzed with horrified thoughts over accidentally causing his boss harm. It had to be a mistake. There was no way he had actually caused any lasting damage to Black Hat. His boss was just trying to scare him.

A low, frustrated snarl sounded, followed by a sickening crunch.

For a moment, Flug was resigned to the thought that Black Hat was in the process of killing him. But there was no pain.

Low growling continued but Black Hat said nothing.

Flug chanced uncurling and froze up at the sight of Black Hat crouching before him. The crunching sound had been the disintegration gun being broken to pieces. Flug doubted that his boss was going to fix it again.

"Out." Black Hat hissed, eye breifly flashing red.

"I...It shouldn't have...I thought I fixed..."

"OUT." Black Hat's humanoid form began to break down as myriads of tentacles and eyes and mouths and a random saw burst out, the demon's voice rising, " **GET OUT!"**

Flug scrambled to his feet and made for the door without a word. He yelped when he was suddenly slammed against the door, a writhing mass of dangerous limbs pinning him there as hot breath spilled on the back of his neck, teeth grazing skin.

Black Hat said nothing but the teeth bit down a little harder, threatening to break skin.

"I...I can't get out like you said if you keep me from leaving." Flug pointed out, letting out a hiss of pain when the teeth broke skin. "Boss! You said something about not wanting to be bothered with looking for someone like me, so really, isn't this, um, counterproductive?" The teeth remained in place but a low, thoughtful hum seemed to emanate from Black Hat. Flug was terrified and shaking badly over the idea that he was going to have his neck snapped at any moment but to his immense relief, the teeth loosened their hold. Flug winced at the wound it left behind, the warm trickle of blood down his skin unnerving.

" **Your usefulness in the lab would be tiresome to find a replacement for. Not many humans are capable of making inventions such as yours**." Black Hat agreed, the demon shifting so that Flug was no longer pinned in place. Black Hat's voice reverted to normal, even if it was a tad restrained. "Out. Get started on that order that came in yesterday."

Flug all but threw himself at the door handle and wrenched it open so he could get out out, not daring to look back. Hand pressing down on his bleeding neck, Flug believed that he'd just had a close brush with death. But one question remained on his mind on the way back to the lab.

Why had the disintegration gun done more damage instead of no damage at all? Flug had been certain that he'd dialed back on the device's destructive ability.


	3. Unstable

The journey to the lab took a little longer than Flug would have liked it to. But it was understandable, due to the bite wound that Black Hat had left between the doctor's left shoulder and neck. The initial bite had stung, and the pain had begun to sink in once the fangs had pierced through the skin, drawing blood.

Flug's gloved hand shakily pressed against the bite, trying to stem the blood flow. It was a wonder that Black Hat hadn't taken a chunk of flesh when he had let go.

Chunk of flesh...probably to be eaten by all those mouths...

Flug shuddered violently, doing his best to not think about that line of thought any further. It had happened and Flug was going to make certain that his boss wouldn't have reason to do that again. And in order to make sure of it, Flug needed to get working on that order Black Hat had told him to go do.

Muttering mutinously under his breath, Flug shouldered open the lab door with his non injured shoulder. His mind slipped from the order to be worked on to the schematics for the disintegration gun. He couldn't move on from that invention until he knew what had gone wrong.

Random hissing from one side of the lab drew a little ire from Flug, but so long as Demencia wasn't breaking anything, he would have to deal with her presence for now. He felt too sore and exhausted to properly kick her out. Glancing up and to the side, he spotted the lizard girl crawling around on the ceiling, tilting items here and there that were hanging into different positions.

"Need to order more..." Flug trailed off into silent thought as he got to one of his desks and pulled the drawing of the disintegration gun forward. The doctor's hand gripped his wounded shoulder tight and seized the plans with his free hand to bring them up to his goggles, inches away. And reread some of the lines, horror mounting.

No.

It couldn't be.

Flug was sure that he would have noticed that change. Wouldn't he have? Had he really been so sleep deprived that he hadn't seen the change in handwriting. Flug swallowed nervously as he ran his eyes over the steps he had scribbled out. Eyes narrowed, googles reflecting the beginnings of anger.

He had made a mistake when making adjustments but it wasn't his mistake that he had made. A certain someone had tampered with his blueprint. And that tampering had caused the device to be destroyed because Flug hadn't succeeded in making it not damage Black Hat. Flug crumpled the paper in his hand, the hand on his shoulder dropping to lash out angrily at the desk.

Vials and glasses went sent flying, along with papers and books as the doctor vented the sudden flare of anger. An anger that had come from a mistake that never should have been made in the first place.

"Oh! You're destroying your own things?" A laugh sounded overhead. "What can I destroy? You never let me destroy things in the lab."

"Demencia..." Flug took a deep, shuddering breath and turned, head tilting back to glare up at the crazily smiling lizard girl. "You have already done a very destructive thing."

"What?" Demencia gasped as she dropped from the ceiling to land in front of Flug. Demencia's sharp canines showed as she spoke, unaware of the flinch the sight drew from the doctor. "What was it? How did I not know? I would have remembered destroying something. Like that one wimpy hero from last week. "

"This." Flug all but shoved the blueprint for the disintegration gun in Demencia's face. "The device that I just completed recently. A device I needed to fix because the boss didn't want it to damage him." Flug dropped the paper and glowered. "The reason I now have a-ugh..." Flug quieted, the anger dimming, and pain taking its place from the throbbing agony that flared from the bite wound.

"Oh, I thought it looked weird with the marks so I changed them back." Demencia noticed the way that Flug had quieted and further appeared to realize that the doctor was bleeding. "Did you get into a fight with a hero? Without me?"

"Wasn't...a hero. Was the boss." Flug managed. Perhaps he should take care of his injury first. His arm was beginning to feel a little stiff and Flug had concerns about whether or not there had been anything in Black Hat's saliva that would be detrimental to a human...

"Lemme see." Demencia moved in close and easily moved Flug's hand aside. The lizard girl assessed the wound and made a 'huh' of understanding, flipping her hair with a jerk of her head. "He got you good."

"You think?" Flug couldn't help but let the words come out heavily sarcastic but apparently it went over Demencia's head as she rolled up her sleeve and proffered an arm for Flug to look at.

"I have some too!" Demencia said cheerfully, expression becoming lovey-dovey as she continued. "Mr. Black Hat sometimes gives me love bites. Even if he tries to kill me afterward. Or maybe..." Demencia's voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper. "...just maybe, he's too shy to admit his feelings for me and acts out in violence."

Flug was too worn out to point out that that was not the case at all. But since Demencia had wounds caused by Black Hat, he couldn't help but take a closer look. What he saw made him cringe.

"Isn't his bite impressive?" Demencia asked, looking immensely proud of the marking on her arm.

"When did this happen?" Flug asked as he looked the bite over. It was clear where the fangs had punctured skin, and where the stitches had tried to sew them closed. It had half worked, which either meant the stitches had set poorly or, more worryingly, the wounds caused by Black Hat were very hard to heal over.

"A couple months ago." Demencia said offhandedly after a brief moment of thought before she brightened. "Oh, you probably need stitches, right?"

"Obviously I'm going to need them so I don't bleed out." Flug wondered how he was going to go about stitching himself up when he turned and came into contact with soft fur and a low, worried rumble.

5.0.5.

"Ooo good timing!" Demencia pointed to Flug. "Hold him tight. He needs that wound sewn up." Demencia produced a needle with a grin. "I can do it. I got practice sewing myself up!"

"What!" Flug's voice squeaked but before he could protest the lizard girl approaching him far too cheerfully with a pointy object, the blue bear held him in a hug.

Trapped.

A sharp prick in his skin alerted Flug that Demencia was serious about sewing up the bite wound and he hastily protested.

"You need to disinfect it first!" Flug said, only getting momentary relief when the sharp object moved away.

"Oh right, that." Demencia could be heard rummaging around the lab for something, and then, quite suddenly, Flug felt liquid being splashed on his skin. Instead of the ordinary sting of a wound being disinfected, there was a sharp, sickening pain that shot up the entirety of Flug's arm and spread to the rest of his body.

It hurt. It was a burning agony that Flug had not been prepared to endure. It wasn't anything like a normal injury, which made sense, seeing as a demon had caused said injury.

Demencia seemed unaware of the soundless cry of pain manifesting in the doctor's ragged gasps and whimpers as she went about sewing skin with a hum.

Flug was weak and limp by the time what felt like bandages were wrapped around his shoulder and neck. The doctor flinched when a hand slapped him on the back, Demencia's voice coming back into focus.

"There. All done." A grin flashed and Demencia went over to the lab door. "I'm going to go tell the boss what a good job I did. Maybe he'll praise me!" With a laugh, Demencia made a mad dash out of the lab and down the hall.

Flug shakily removed his gloves, dizzy and unable to see which one was bloodied. Better to take both off and not get the bandages bloody. Flug rested a hand to his chest, belatedly noticing that at some point his lab coat and shirt had been taken off. Flug felt that 5.0.5. was still holding on to him. Flug patted the arm around him. "I need to get to work."

5.0.5.'s head tilted to the side before the bear let out another concerned sound and instead of letting go, picked Flug up and carried him out of the lab.

"Don't take me to my room. I can't rest right now. Not after what happened." Flug protested weakly. "Boss won't be happy if that order isn't completed." That was an understatement. Already Flug could picture the demon terrorizing him for slacking. A brief surge of resentment rose over the idea, because really, it would be Black Hat's fault he couldn't do work, via the bite he had landed. Suddenly, all desire to go back to the lab left Flug.

As 5.0.5. passed a portrait of Black Hat, neither man nor beast noticed the eye track their progress. The light flickered in the hall, and, quite suddenly, no one was in the picture. 5.0.5. got Flug into his bedroom a few minutes later without incident and laid down on the bed, carefully hugging Flug to soft fur.

"Can't. Need to...work..." Flug murmured drowsily against the blue bear's fur. No matter how unhappy he was with how he had been treated, the desire to create things in the lab had returned to him. But Flug couldn't get free of 5.0.5.'s grasp. Flug's eyes were already closing as his head, and with it, the paper bag, sagged against 5.0.5. Perhaps a little rest to recuperate from the bite wound would be all right. 5.0.5. giving his back a reassuring pat that sent Flug along into his slumber, but it wasn't the restful respite he would have hoped for.

The dream, if it could be called that, was dark and gloomy, and Flug could all but feel his skin crawl despite knowing that he was not awake. Flug flinched at the sound of a cold voice that spoke, teeth audibly grinding as each word was spoken menacingly.

"Are you really going to sleep on the job, doctor? Because I assure you, if you don't get that order finished on time, you won't be having a restful sleep for months."

Flug couldn't see Black Hat anywhere in his dream but he didn't doubt that the voice belonged to the genuine article. It was disquieting to think his dream could be intruded upon with such ease, but then again, it was Black Hat, so it really shouldn't have been all that surprising.

It didn't make it any less nerve-racking.

"Is it because of my bite?" Black Hat's voice turned thoughtful, as if the injury hadn't occurred to him to be something to be concerned about. "Demencia was rattling on about how she had sewn you up."

Flug froze as a clawed hand casually traced his injured shoulder.

"It would be a shame if anything were to happen to one of your arms. It would make creating those inventions of yours...difficult."

Flug squeezed his eyes shut when the hand tightened, the claws threatening to dig into the skin beneath the bandages. There was a low growl, and the hand gave Flug's shoulder a squeeze, drawing out a pained yelp.

"I didn't go to sleep by choice!" Flug managed to say through the agony he was in. "I would have done that order but 5.0.5. insisted that I rest."

The hand lessened its crushing grip before it drew away. Clawed fingers lightly traced the bandages before pressing down. Words that Flug couldn't understand were spoken, the stitched wound almost feeling unnervingly hot, before it cooled to a less painful ache. Black Hat's touch left once it got to that point.

"It wouldn't have healed any time soon if I hadn't removed the...bacteria." There was an aggravated sigh. "I continue to forget how susceptible humans are to infection." A low laugh. "I doubt you'll awaken any time soon, so I guess I'll have to make do with the robots in production to fill less complex orders for now."

Black Hat's presence vanished abruptly. Flug was so relieved that he didn't even bother to fight to hold on to the last shreds of awareness. Flug merely allowed himself to fall into a dreamless sleep, despite Black Hat's threat to not allow him a restful sleep.


	4. In the Shadows

Flug woke with a start, exhaling harshly. He couldn't remember what he'd just been dreaming about before waking, but from the hammering of his heart, it hadn't been very nice. Anxiety provoking, more like. Falling asleep and being confronted by your boss was unsettling. It made Flug wonder what else Black Hat was capable of while in someone else's dream.

"How could I feel anything in a dream?" Flug questioned aloud, as he felt lightly along his bandages with careful fingers. There wasn't any blood seeping through the fabric, but...were those small tears in the bandages? Flug shakily traced along where Black Hat had gripped him with his claws in his dream and found that there were small tears in the bandages that had not been there before.

That was...well, that answered a few things. Apparently, if Black Hat had decided to rip through his bandages in his dream it would then be torn when Flug woke up. At the very least, the demon had gotten rid of anything that would hinder his recovery, even if Black Hat had caused the damage in the first place. Why Black Hat hadn't healed the wound or something useful like that, Flug wasn't sure. Maybe he couldn't?

"Shouldn't expect anything else from the boss." Flug mumbled under his breath as he sighed and reached over to pat 5.0.5. It didn't take a genius to know that his boss was toying with him after the incident with the disintegration gun. Flug's hand came into contact with a pillow, so he reached out at a different angle.

Nothing.

Flug turned slightly, ignoring the ache from his injury as he did so.

He was alone.

The blue bear was no longer in the room with him. Flug settled on his back and stared up at the ceiling for a time, lost in thought, before he decided that he needed to get up. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep, and from the way he felt more rested than usual, Flug knew that it had to have been longer than just a few hours.

With a quiet groan, Flug sat up in bed and carefully stretched, working out some kinks. Flug slid out of bed with a soft sigh and shuffled over to a chair where he could see his shirt and lab coat. Looking the articles of clothing over, Flug could just barely make out faint stitches. Someone had fixed the holes that one of Black Hat's tentacles had chewed holes through.

With a shake of his head, Flug carefully pulled the shirt on, wincing as fabric brushed the bandaged injury. The lab coat went on next and despite feeling a little stiff, Flug found that he could move his left arm enough to work.

But first...he needed to go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Flug had no idea how long he had slept and the scientist was certain that he'd drop later in the day if he didn't at least get a snack. Flug would prefer to avoid his boss' fury for a time and especially over interrupted work flow due to not taking care of himself.

The kitchen didn't yield anything for him to eat, which made Flug wonder how long had been since anyone had gone grocery shopping. Not that Black Hat seemed to eat anything in the kitchen. It seemed reserved for his employees' use but from the look of it, Demencia hadn't bothered going to a store lately.

Flug decided to not think about what the human-lizard hybrid could have eaten in the meantime.

Looking around one more time, Flug came to the conclusion that there was nothing to eat. Flug left he kitchen in search of Demencia to make her go shop but no matter where he looked, Flug couldn't find the nuisance. He let out an exasperated sigh. Of course he couldn't find Demencia when he actually wanted her to be around.

It figured. Nothing was apparently going to go right for him this...week? Month?

"You better not be in the lab touching those vials again..." Flug grumbled under his breath as he went in the direction of said lab. On his way there, Flug passed by 5.0.5 but he couldn't bring himself to wake the blue bear. He wouldn't send his creation out alone anyway. Flug paused outside the lab, considering the idea about going to ask Black Hat about the food situation. Surely his boss could just fill the fridge and pantry up with stolen goods with a snap of his fingers or something.

Flug thought about what had happened in his dream, remembered the way that Black Hat's clawed hand had lightly dug into his wounded shoulder. Flug shakily brushed a hand over his shoulder and made the decision to leave his boss alone. Flug would go get those groceries himself.

It wasn't that hard of a task and there was no chance of blowing anything up in the process. But first, Flug needed to make a few adjustments to his appearance before stepping outside of Black Hat's home. There were heroes on the prowl, after all, and it wouldn't do to get recognized straight away. He was a wanted man, after all.

Flug entered the lab and noticed with a pleased hum that Demencia was nowhere to be seen. Flug hesitated before he reluctantly removed the bag over his head, the goggles going along with the removal. Blinking at the light in the lab, Flug took the goggles off of the bag and put them over his eyes, settling the strap behind the back of his head.

Better. Not so bright anymore.

Flug gave his hair a nervous ruffle before he removed his lab coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He wasn't wearing any gloves, so the bare skin revealed the sight of faint scars here and there on his hands and forearms, from past experiments that hadn't quite gone according to plan.

Flug took a breath and let it out, the beginnings of an anxious flutter settling in his chest over the act of taking the bag off his head. Flug silently told himself that it would be fine. He'd not be gone long and he could put it back on as soon as he returned. A slower, deeper breath. Flug knew that he hadn't convinced himself very well when the anxious feeling remained. He had left the bag over his head for so long that it felt wrong to take off even for short amounts of time. But if he was going to go get some groceries it would be best to not make it obvious who he was. There was nothing Flug could do about the bandages peeking out from under his shirt collar, so he didn't bother trying to fuss with it.

With a final glance around the lab, Flug exited the room, and out of Black Hat's home to go to the nearest store. Flug carefully avoided eye contact with people who stared at him curiously as he walked by. Perhaps he should have changed out of the shirt that had an airplane emblazoned on the front.

Flug was highly paranoid and jumpy by the time he left the store laden with two bags. Really. He ought to have found Demencia. She would have been able to shoplift and get away with it. Flug was about head back to his boss' place when he stopped short, freezing up at the sight of two heroes walking down the street. It was obvious they were heroes because of their attire and Flug was aware that he hadn't brought any of his inventions to protect himself.

"You there."

Flug tried his best to not cringe. This wasn't going to go well, was it? As Flug prepared to try and weasel his way out of trouble with the heroes now staring at him skeptically, the doctor was unaware that someone was watching him from across the street in the dark shadows of the alley with unsavory intentions.

-x-x-x-

The man was far too damn nervous to actually be the competent doctor who made all those inventions and devices for Black Hat. There was no way that goggle-wearing fool cringing in the presence of those heroes was anything other than a sniveling coward, and yet...

There was no mistaking the...presence, or rather, scent, of Black Hat that hung in the air around the human. It was obvious to someone such as himself that it was a blatant way to advertise to other demons to keep their distance.

Sharp canines bared. Interesting. He couldn't figure out what was going thorough the eldritch demon's mind to employ someone like this. The stuttering and meek posture the human had taken before the heroes was embarrassing, really. It was painfully obvious who Flug was, even without that ridiculous bag over his head and the ever present lab coat.

He, Vas Shard, was not one to usually bother with having an interest in humans who were clearly in the employ of another demon. However...

Vas Shard's fingers flexed, considering the idea of abducting the doctor. He was curious to find out if Flug could actually make the devices advertised in those videos. Narrowed red eyes assessed the immediate area but deduced that there were too many people in the area at present. It would be too much of a hassle to kill everyone and besides, there were the heroes to consider. Heroes always made him nauseous. Too much positive attitude and...ugh, he ought to leave before those fools made him actually throw up. Throw up from their stupidity, that is. A shame, really, with such a golden opportunity to get to the doctor without Black Hat's presence. Vas Shard smiled. There was, however, something he could do in the meantime.

Vas Shard casually emerged from the shadows of the alley and walked across the street. The demon made his way toward the trio of humans, casually waving a hand to send an undetectable spell to make the heroes leave Flug alone. Vas Shard bit back a laugh at the sight of the doctor tensing up upon seeing him. Good. At least Flug could sense there wasn't something quite right about him. Adjusting his thin coat, Vas Shard proffered a light bow, hair sliding over one eye.

"Those heroes were being a little too nosy so I sent them away." Vas Shard smiled at the way Flug was now on guard. There really was no point to start anything that might alert Black Hat. Vas Shard used another spell before the doctor could get a good look at him, and once he saw Flug's face go blank, knew that it had worked. Good. It seemed that memory erasure in small amounts worked.

"I think I'm going to give you a little...inspiration." Vas Shard reached out and curled a hand beneath Flug's chin. Vas Shard was only in the area because he had sensed that the eldritch demon had been furious about something or another, and he had felt it clear across another dimension. Vas Shard thought it would be amusing to be able to sense more of that sensation. "Have fun." Vas Shard said lightly once he had cast the spell. He let go of Flug's chin and backed away a reasonable distance before Flug could get a hold of himself.

"W...what?"

Vas Shard quietly watched as Flug looked around, obviously confused, before the doctor left the area with the bags in his hands. Now all Vas Shard had to do was wait. He'd cast a simple manipulation spell. It would take a little time for it to take effect, but soon enough, the doctor would be getting more dangerous ideas into his head.

Dangerous for Black Hat, that is.

-x-x-x-

As Flug headed back home, he had the feeling that he was missing something. Something important. He remembered getting the groceries and then the nerve racking encounter with some heroes, and then...they had left.

Flug didn't know how he'd managed to get out of that situation unscathed but was grateful to be left alone nonetheless. There seemed to be a...blank, between the heroes leaving and Flug continuing on his way. But he couldn't place it.

It was probably nothing to worry about.

Flug reached the gates leading up to Black Hat's home and he immediately cringed. Flug almost dropped the groceries at the sight of Black Hat casually leaning up against the gate and swinging his cane idly while wearing a very displeased expression. An expression which became scarier as fangs appeared and the demon spoke in a low angry growl.

"What the hell were you thinking, just leaving without a word to anyone?"

"Th-there wasn't anything t-to eat in the kitchen." Flug stammered, knowing that it wasn't concern for his well being that had made Black Hat furious. "I couldn't f-find Demencia so I went because I thought it wo-would be better to eat something. Didn't think you would want me to f-faint while working and end up delaying projects that need to be done."

"And you didn't come to me why?"

"I...I didn't think that..." Flug dropped the groceries abruptly and cowered under the flimsy protection of his arms over his head when Black Hat made as if to strike him. "Please don't, sir, I just woke up about an hour ago. Just let me put the groceries away and eat something and then I can...ohnonononotthecanepleaseanythingbutthat..." Flug's voice tumbled into a series of words when Black Hat made another sharp movement but it was to merely seize him around the wrist. Flug winced against the grip but soon was distracted by the disorienting movement through shadows and seconds later, the two of them were in the kitchen.

"Eat something and get into the lab. You were asleep for two days and things have been backed up in production. Do not bother me unless necessary. I have some calls to deal with." Black Hat let go, and after seeing the wordless nod of acknowledgment from Flug, swept out of the nearby door.

Flug automatically put away the groceries and ate something without paying much attention to what it was. Probably a sandwich of sorts. Flug didn't even really notice getting back to the lab but he was vaguely aware of slipping his lab coat back on. The bag went back on over his head after he'd removed the goggles and with a snap, put them back around the bag.

There. That was much better.

Flug went over to a desk and drew a blank sheet of paper toward him. Taking up a pencil, Flug started sketching out a new idea for a device to make. Once done with the initial outline, Flug put it aside and began to work on the orders for the day.

Perhaps the idea that had come to mind would become clearer over time. For now, Flug had a lot to catch up on if he had really been asleep for two days.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: I have far too many demon ocs hanging around and Vas Shard seemed the best to go with because he doesn't really have a good sense of self preservation since he's an asshole with a high opinion of himself even if he dresses like he went dumpster diving. He won't be around again for awhile, since I don't want oc's to be the main focus.

Black Hat isn't going to be very happy when he finally picks up on that spell but not before Flug makes something far more dangerous than the disintegration gun.


	5. Sinister Shocker

Being chased down by one of your own creations was not the best way to start the day. Being chased in general wasn't good for Flug's mental state either. It just so happened that the cambot was the latest piece of equipment to malfunction this week for some horrid reason.

"Coming up from the left from behind!" Demencia called from the relative safety of the ceiling.

Flug threw himself onto the floor of the lab, the many limbs of the cambot narrowly missing him as the blinking red light indicated that the footage was being recorded. If Flug had been advertising a horror movie the footage would have been a goldmine. Unfortunately, it was supposed to be a video to show off his newest creation, the Sinister Shocker, which could stun enemies with electricity. And in addition to a shock, the device also allowed a villain to send their own abilities through with that shot of electricity.

But right now, it seemed like Flug was going to have to figure out how to fix whatever was wrong with the cambot first before it pummeled him into the ground. The last thing Flug wanted was for Black Hat to find out, even if he wasn't sure when his boss would choose to show up.

It had been a week and a half since his last appearance.

-x-x-x-

Black Hat was seething, highly tempted to send everything on his desk flying to the ground. It was highly inconvenient to have all this work piling up on him, and at least a third of it was correspondence with a villain who has been making a lot of purchased as of late

Black Hat tapped a finger in thought. He wanted to get the orders filled promptly and get this villain off his back. It had been nothing but constant questions and orders, the latter of which was fine. As for the questions, Black Hat was going to make sure that he was compensated for his time.

Something like a dull crash and a faint scream echoed from somewhere, and at the brief spike of fear from Flug, the demon let out a grumble. That had to be coming from the laboratory. It had been some time since there had been any incidents, as the last time he had taken a peek inside the lab, he had found designs for new weapons and devices scattered on and around Flug's workspace.

Black Hat stopped tapping the desk. He was the slightest bit suspicious of Flug's sudden increase in ideas being written out between work orders. It wouldn't do for the doctor to get side tracked by something that wasn't necessary but at least he wasn't falling behind yet.

Black Hat sensed the fear from Flug intensifying and decided that he would rather go check on the doctor and see what the fuss was about than do any work. Flug had been unusually cheerful for two weeks and this was the first break in that.

By the time he neared the lab and caught wind of what was going on, Black Hat almost believed that he should have stayed in his office. Of all the stupid…

"What the hell is going on in here?" Black Hat slammed the door open in time to see the clawed limb of the cambot seize Flug by a leg and hoist him into the air, his other limbs flailing frantically.

"Oh, hi boss!" Demencia dropped from the ceiling and slid in close to the demon to bat her eyes at him and smile sweetly. "I just thought cambot could be a little more aggressive in its filming style." A hand in her face kept her from getting any closer to Black Hat.

"So it was you!" Flug accused even as he was shook to and fro roughly. "I told you not to tamper with the bots!"

"Stop wasting time!" Black Hat growled irritably as he snapped his fingers. The cambot went rigid and dropped Flug immediately as the red light indicated it had stopped recording.

"Stopping robots with a snap of his fingers or scaring someone with his demonic powers." Demencia sighed wistfully even though Black Hat still had his free hand in her face to keep her away. "Either way, you're my kind of villain~"

Black Hat's face twisted in disgust at the way Demencia was staring at him, and he shoved her away, removing his glove and burning it in an obvious way.

Dementia regained her balance easily and winked at the demon as she went to retrieve Flug's newest invention. It had gotten sent across the floor during the chaos.

Black Hat watched Flug sigh with relief at the sight of the cambot being stopped in place. The demon grinned just a little at the way Demencia dropped the small device she had retrieved onto the doctor's lap, causing Flug to jump at the suddenness.

"What exactly were you fools trying to do before that thing went haywire?" Black Hat demanded of his employees.

"We were getting ready to present a new invention." Flug held up the small device in his hands, and it looked to be a controller of sorts with a few buttons on the top and a slot at the tip. "You've been busy with work so Demencia and I have been recording and pitching sales for the past week and a half."

"And how were sales during that time?" Black Hat asked as he moved closer to Flug and then reached over to pluck the control out of the man's hand.

"Steady, with a few extra requests. Though a few calls did come in where someone was just wondering where you were. They weren't looking to buy anything." Flug appeared nervous to have Black Hat hold his invention. "I told them you were otherwise occupied with other matters."

"Hmm." Black Hat didn't particularly care for mediocre villains questioning his whereabouts. It was suspicious. Like the one time Demencia had joked about him going on a vacation and a few villains had turned up in his home daring to think they could steal from him. Black Hat showed a hint of fangs as he sneered at the very thought.

"B…boss?"

"What does this thing do, Flug?" Black Hat held the control in his hand and looked the buttons over, and then inspected the top, where there was a hole.

"It…it's a small handheld device that functions not unlike a stun gun." Flug's voice grew steadier as he talked about his invention. "The buttons that you see are for selecting the shock level, and clicking the button underneath the control will send the shock out in a concentrated blast of electricity." Flug quailed at the evil grin that lit Black Hat's face but continued on. "Built into the control there is also a function that allows for the user of the control to let their own ability through to mix with the shock. That's what makes it different than a stun gun."

"I must say, doctor, for the past two weeks, your inventions have actually been more of a success than a flop." Black Hat gave a gleeful grin, and aimed the device at Demencia. An electrical white-blue shock struck the hybrid and knocked her to the ground.

"Oh~Black Hat, is this a confession?" Demencia asked from where she had crumpled into a heap on the floor from the shock, drooling a little as she giggled. "Do you love me? When are we getting married?"

"Ugh." Black Hat made another expression of utter disgust and zapped Demencia again. The demon watched her twitch again and then he turned to face Flug, a sinister grin on his face.

"D…do you like it?" Flug asked in a small voice, nervously eyeing Black Hat when the demon continued to smile eerily at him.

"Of course I do! Just look what it did to-" Black Hat stopped speaking abruptly when Demencia launched through the air and wrapped herself around Black Hat's waist. The sudden affectionate gesture from Demencia caused the demon to let go of the invention. With a hiss and shudder at the touch, Black Hat grabbed the lizard girl in an attempt to remove her from his person.

Demencia laughed madly like it was a game and clung doggedly Black Hat.

-x-x-x-

The control seemed to fall in slow motion as Flug scrambled to his feet.

No!

He wasn't going to allow another one of his inventions to strike the ground and break again. But could he make it in time to catch it?

Flug dove for the control and just barely caught it before it could strike the ground. Unfortunately, from the way he grabbed it, Flug's hand had pressed both the highest setting on the control and the button on the back to set it off.

With a startled yelp, Flug watched with horror as the crackling shot was fired straight at Demencia and Black Hat. Flug considered trying to vacate the lab when the shot hit not Demencia but Black Hat, who had just thrown the lizard hybrid across the room.

The resulting demonic screech was deafening, caused both Flug and Demencia to cover their ears.

" **Flug** …." The remainder of Black Hat's words devolved into a series of growls as the demon twitched from the electric jolt his body had been given, before continuing, voice breaking in places. **"WhAt dID I sAy aBOut your toys AFFECTING me?"**

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Flug let go of the control immediately and held up his hands pleadingly as Black Hat slowly stalked toward him with a malevolent look, visible eye glowing red. Flug got to his feet and backed away, stammering as Black Hat picked up the invention. "It was a-an accident! I swear! I didn't want t-the device to break! It's very f-fragile. I didn't mean to s-set it off…" Flug's back came into contact with a wall and he cowered there as Black Hat merely continued to stare at him.

"Cambot, prepare to record." Black Hat said, darkness briefly entering the lab as a stray tentacle poked Flug in the back. It prodded the nervous doctor again until Flug very reluctantly moved closer to the demon. "Begin recording." Black Hat said smoothly to the cambot, as his free hand reached out and gripped Flug's shoulder tightly to prevent the doctor from moving too far.

Flug had a bad feeling about this and was proven correct when Black Hat grinned at the camera and began to speak.

"Welcome, villains, to another presentation of the latest and greatest from Black Hat Organization. I, Black Hat, will be doing a live demonstration of a device soon to be for sale. It's called…"

"…the Sinister Shocker." Flug gasped out, when one of Black Hat's tentacles pressed against his back, sharp teeth nipping warningly as his words tumbled out. "G…guaranteed to give your enemies a nasty shock. The Sinister Shocker has several intensity settings to give you the option of how much pain you wish to inflict. An added bonus allows for you to channel your own ability to make the shot that much more nasty for your enemies."

"And now, for our live demonstration." Black Hat's hand gripped Flug's shoulder tighter as the demon's voice turned icy. "Run, doctor, and make it a good chase, like before."

Flug all but threw himself from Black Hat's side once the demon let go of him, terrified as he began to calculate how much of a shock he could survive. He could hear his boss continue to speak as he ran.

"The range ensures that you will be able to hit your troublesome adversaries."

Flug heard rather than saw Black Hat fire at him and narrowly managed to dodge the shot but hit his shoulder hard against a wall in the process. Flug cringed at Black Hat's low snarl of displeasure and stumbled away from the wall to continue to move.

"As Doctor Flug stated, you can channel your natural abilities, should you have them, through this device for better…accuracy." Black Hat sounded far too happy about the prospect.

Flug did not like how quick his boss was picking up on the invention's functions. But right now, he had more pressing problems. Flug ran into another wall of the lab but before he could change directions, he caught Black Hat aim at him again with a shit-eating grin.

The shot, when it was fired off, was blackish-green, and distorted, instead of a whitish-blue light. Flug's didn't even have time to scream as it hurtled toward him but instead of being struck, something blocked the device's shot.

"Stop recording." Black Hat said shortly, before he got annoyed. "Dammit 5.0.5! What have I said about you interrupting a recording?" Black Hat snarled, sounding immensely disappointed to not have been able to strike the doctor.

"5.0.5?" Flug uncurled and found the blue bear still shielding him. 5.0.5 appeared to be perfectly fine except for the…what the hell was that?

"It seems I've found a way to cause something to appear on this stupid creature." Black Hat commented, inspecting the creepy eye that was in the middle of the flower on 5.0.5's head.

While Demencia went about prodding the eye and in turn, Black Hat, Flug furiously scribbled on a piece of paper, determined to reverse whatever the hell had happened. Yet another thing to take care of amid the pile of work he already had.

Flug needn't have worried because within the hour the eye had vanished from the flower and Black Hat was once more holed up in his office taking a call.

Flug was left with a hefty order for Sinister Shockers the day after the recording went live. Much to his displeasure, Demencia had somehow snuck some footage of him being chased by cambot, and annoyingly enough, its inclusion into the video had been approved by his boss.

Flug, once done with some of the orders for the day, went back to the idea he'd come up with two weeks ago. Some resentment and anger rose within him as he worked on the design.

How dare Black Hat use his own inventions against him. How dare that damn demon think it a good idea to electrocute a human. Demencia had been fine but she was a hybrid so she had different tolerances.

The resentful feelings lingered and Flug grew quiet as he fell into a rhythm of sketching and making notes. He didn't even notice Demencia trying to pester him. Flug hadn't even realized that she ended up leaving him alone because of the weird glint reflecting off his goggles and the random odd laugh here and there.

He'd show Black Hat. Flug would show him what would happen if the demon kept insisting on the abuse and mistreatment and using his inventions against him. By the time Flug had finished the details for the new invention, he was wearing a bit of a crazed smile beneath the paper bag. This invention…it would be perfect. Absolutely perfect.

And Black Hat wouldn't be able to use it, because Flug would add one final feature to guarantee that.

x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: I'm making up invention names for when I need to name something Flug makes. If I ever do something someone else has done, let me know and I'll change it.


	6. Breakdown

A/N: FYI, some blood/violence this chapter. Black Hat goes a bit nuts and kills an oc villain messily.

x-x-x-x-x-

After the incident with the Sinister Shocker, things had been relatively quiet in the labs. It was a little suspicious to Black Hat, but he thought nothing of it as he went about taking care of the behind the scenes for his business. It was only when Black Hat came to the orders and found out how much they had shipped out that week did he notice something off.

They were behind by several days for some of the shipments.

Black Hat's lips twitched, eye narrowing. He read over the papers again and came to the same conclusion. Claws sprang out of the gloves the demon wore, piercing the pages in his hands.

That would not do at all.

Black Hat's visible eye slid over to the door as his teeth bared in displeasure. It seemed like he needed to go have a little chat with the doctor about his...side projects. While it amusing how they turned out as of late, Black Hat refused to have villains' supply orders being backlogged. The eldritch demon had a reputation to uphold, and he wasn't going to allow this sudden decrease in productivity to continue.

-x-x-x-

"FLUG!"

Flug almost dropped a vial he was holding, and upon seeing his boss storm toward him with a vicious snarl on his face, hastily set the vial aside. Flug cowered against the desk, unable to take a step away from it by the time Black Hat reached him. Flug flinched when Black Hat thrust the punctured papers in his face and hissed dangerously at him.

"Any reason why we are behind by several days?" Black Hat waved a hand at the pieces of equipment and plans scattered around the lab. "What have I said before about your side projects?"

"To w...wait until all the orders h...have been p...processed?" Flug stammered, discreetly stepping away from the desk and backing away as Black Hat advanced on him.

"Then why aren't you working on those?" Black Hat's voice was bordering on a snarl, like he was considering wringing Flug's neck. His hands were raised as if ready to grab something.

"I am!" Flug assured his boss, not really wanting Black Hat to get any closer. Memory of those fangs biting him was still strong. "And my side projects aren't being worked on at present. Right now, I was trying to catch up with those orders." Flug's back pressed against a wall, trying to make himself small as Black Hat loomed closer. "There was an influx of orders that came in that were unexpected and unfortunately, a few machines have broken down in the past two days." Flug covered his head out of reflex at the sight of Black Hat's claws making an appearance but continued on. "The machines need to be fixed. It's what caused the delay for those orders to be shipped out."

"Then stop working on whatever you are doing and get those damn machines fixed." Black Hat growled at Flug, who had slid down to the floor. "And get those orders out before making any of those new toys of yours." Black Hat inspected the vial on the desk. "And what is this?"

"A new type of poison. It's supposed to go in one of the newest orders that came in." Flug made a sound of protest when Black Hat picked the vial up and downed it in one gulp.

"It could be a little more potent than that." Black Hat commented with a lick of his forked tongue, before he suddenly leaned over and glared at Flug. "If I see any more delays, Flug, you won't be having a very pleasant rest of your week. Understand?"

Flug nodded wordlessly, wanting nothing more than for the floor to swallow him up so that his boss' sharp teeth weren't so close to his face. The bag offered little protection should Black Hat actually choose to attack him. Flug needn't have worried, because as soon as Black Hat saw him nod, the demon drew away and left the lab without another word.

The moment Black Hat left the lab, Flug began to hear loud crashes in another part of the mansion. Nervously he got back to work, but the crashing sounds continued on and were a little worrisome until they stopped altogether ten minutes later.

Demencia wandered into the lab moments later splattered in blood and carrying a gory-looking mace.

"What did you do?" Flug asked after a moment of looking the lizard hybrid over. It wasn't the first time that this had happened, though he hoped she wouldn't come over to him and get his white lab coat covered in blood.

"I dealt with some thugs who thought that breaking and entering to steal from Black Hat was a good idea." Demencia stated cheerfully.

"Why are you telling me?" Flug wondered why she would bother him about it if it had been taken care of. "Shouldn't you let Black Hat know?"

"Oh, good idea!" Demencia perked up at that and, with the bloody mace still over a shoulder, left the lab.

In the silence that followed, Flug was able to catch up on orders and get them sent out, and once that was finished, he was able to finalize his idea that he'd been working on. The device that Black Hat wouldn't be able to get his hands on. Something that only Flug would be able to use, and all he needed was a few more supplies and he'd be able to put the finishing touches on it.

While Flug worked away silently, he thought nothing about how the main component of the weapon would be something that Black Hat would not approve of. But it didn't matter right now. All that mattered about the new invention was that it would show Black Hat what he was capable of. That the eldritch demon should treat him better, or bad things would happen to his boss.

Flug laughed to himself as he made a few adjustment to the device, and smiled to himself as he worked. Oh, it was going to be so satisfying to finally be able to show that he had his own brand of evil. It was usually just overshadowed by Black Hat's mere presence. Flug held up the piece of paper and his smile went a little crazed.

It would be perfect...perfectly dangerous, that is.

A sudden ringing sound broke into Flug's evil thoughts, and he panicked as he threw himself in the direction of the phone. Black Hat never bothered calling him, so it was likely that it was a call in from a potential customer.

"Black Hat Organization." Flug said hastily into the phone, a little displeased at being interrupted.

'Ah, doctor Flug. I was rather hoping to speak to Black Hat. He has been absent as of late, leaving you to answer the phones.'

"He's busy at the moment..." Flug wracked his mind for a moment, trying to place the haughty male voice. Ah, that was right. "And Mr. Bladechain, might I remind you that you've called several times with the same exact lines?"

'Have I really?' Bladechain said dismissively. 'Not that it matters, because you never really give me an answer apart from 'he's busy'. I'm beginning to think that he isn't even there most of the time.'

"Are you calling to order, check on an order, or harass me with something I don't have to answer if I don't want to?" Flug asked shortly, still rather annoyed his working streak had been interrupted.

'It's interesting that Black Hat lets you have free reign.' Bladechain said with a laugh. 'I would never let my employees be so...carefree with their words.' A pause. 'But yes, I wanted to know when my order would be finished. I wanted to pick it up in person.'

"Let me check..." Flug peered at his calender, and found the villain's name penciled in. "It should be ready for pick up next week."

'Then I shall be there next week.' The phone went dead.

Flug sighed over the dramatics of it all and went back to work. But what he had no idea of knowing was that picking up an order wasn't the only thing on Bladechain's mind.

It was only a cover for his true intentions.

-x-x-x-

A week went by, and as promised, Bladechain was there to pick up his order. The chain wrapped villain stood with his arms crossed, two blades sheathed over his back as he waited for Flug to get his order. The doctor had agreed to a demonstration to show the villain the effectiveness of the weapon he had ordered. While waiting, Bladechain spoke up casually.

"I find it odd that Black Hat hasn't been making as many appearances." The villain bared his teeth in amusement at the way Flug fumbled through the devices on shelves. "In fact, I heard he hasn't been meeting with many villains who have called on him. It is very odd, don't you think?"

"Black Hat really has been busier lately." Flug had resumed his search, but slowed to a halt when Bladechain asked a worrying question.

"Is Black Hat home today?"

"He's around." Flug said in a quiet voice as he located the order. He was getting an uneasy feeling as he set the device down on the table. Flug let out a sharp cry of pain when the short, dark haired haired villain seized his upper arm in a tight squeeze.

"You're a bad liar." Bladechain spat out. "You don't actually know where your boss is. You're in this lab most of the time, aren't you? How could you possibly know where Black Hat is?" The grasp tightened. "And you're alone right now."

Flug didn't waste any words on this villain. He knew there was no point in it, so he jabbed a few fingers into Bladechain's arm to free himself. As the villain back-stepped with a surprised gasp, letting go, Flug lurched for another table, only to be struck by a chain lashing out and catching him in the stomach. The strike sent Flug flying through the air a short distance away to strike the wall, his breath momentarily driven out of his body. Despite the shortness of breath, Flug struggled to get himself over to his newest invention. It was his only shot at getting out of this situation unless Black Hat chose to show up and intervene.

Which he hadn't.

"It's interesting that you don't seem to be as much of a coward right now." Bladechain commented of that face that Flug attempting to arm himself. "But don't waste my time." Another chain shot out and struck Flug, but instead of impeding him, the strike sent Flug rolling across the floor and closer to his invention. "I don't want to kill you, doctor. I just figured I would kidnap you for myself while Black Hat is away." Bladechain swung a chain idly as he watched Flug inch toward the weapon. "I want to have all the inventions I can dream up be made, and without having to offer a soul to Black Hat in return for some of the more...extravagant items."

Flug was confused by those words but didn't waste what little breath he had questioning the villain about his financial situation. Instead, Flug dragged his battered body the rest of the way over to a table. A weapon lie on it beneath some blueprints, to hide it out of sight. Flug surged up when close enough, and fell on the table in his haste to grab the new gun-like weapon he had made. A shaking hand closed around the handle, and swung the weapon around to aim at Bladechain.

"Like you actually have the guts to fire a shot at me." The villain snickered at the very idea.

Flug had been feeling more confident over the last month with his inventions going over well, so the dismissive way the villain was treating him made the fear fade away into irrational anger. Flug aimed the weapon and pulled the trigger as the villain lunged at him, his hands surprisingly steady.

A lot suddenly happened at once.

Something crashed into Flug to knock him over and onto the floor from the table, while Black Hat's voice was suddenly there, and began to rise in anger.

"How dare second rate fools like yourself believe that you can just waltz into my home and take the doctor from me."

Flug realized that 5.0.5 had gotten him out of harms way, and from beneath the bear's arm, he could see that Demencia had struck Bladechain from behind and moved out of the way as Black Hat advanced on the dazed villain. Flug pressed against 5.0.5 at the sight of the way Black Hat's form had broken down into a myriad of horrors again, grinding out at the now immobile villain.

 **"Flug is mine. All of the inventions that he creates are mine to do with as I please."** Black Hat's sharp teeth were bared. **"I won't allow any other villain to get their hands on such a useful human."**

Black Hat threw himself onto Bladechain with his bare hands, talons bursting out of the gloves to rend flesh as he tore into the villain. The screaming began, and continued as Black Hat savaged the villain with his claws, teeth shredding into flesh with nasty bites, blood splattering everywhere, until finally, Black Hat tore Bladechain's throat out with his fangs before he spat the skin out carelessly. Wiping the back of his mouth with a hand, Black Hat hissed down at the dead body. " **Flug works only for me. No others**. **And I'll keep him for as long as I please**."

A flare of anger had been rising within Flug at everything that Black Hat had said, and his hand clenched the gun he'd made in his hand right. How dare Black Hat say things like that, even if they were true. Flug ignored 5.0.5 pressing in close to him, dismissing the growl of question.

"Did that guy hurt you, nerd?"

Flug ignored Demencia's question as well, his eyes on his boss, teeth clenched.

"Flug?"

The prod Demencia gave him was ignored as Flug slowly stood up to face the demon crouched over the body that had once been Bladechain. But that wasn't what Flug was looking at. Flug was glaring at Black Hat himself as he gripped the weapon in his hand. How dare Black Hat treat him like this. How dare that damn demon think he could just do whatever he wanted with Flug and his inventions. He wouldn't stand for it. Flug couldn't keep living like this. Couldn't keep living in constant fear of whether or not Black Hat would be pleased by an invention or angered. No matter how much he'd wanted to work for the demon in the first place, it was getting to be too much.

Black Hat turned his attention to Flug, his fangs stained with blood, his claws subconsciously digging into the dead villain beneath him, and ripping the flesh apart further.

Flug froze at the sight, breath hitching over the way Black Hat eyed him. It wasn't the look of a sane individual. And when Black Hat got up off of the dead villain and took a step in the doctor's direction, tentacles writhing, Flug brandished the weapon in his hand. He made sure that Black Hat saw the weapon.

"Stay away." Flug was surprised at how steady and calm his voice came out, with no stutter. "Stay away from me or I'll shoot."

" **Put your toy down, Flug**." Black Hat laughed as he continued to move closer to the doctor, a tentacle casually holding Demencia at bay as he loomed closer. " **I am not in the mood to play any games right now**."

"I'm not playing games, sir." Flug held the weapon tightly as he met Black Hat's single red eye. "I'm tired of you pushing me around and taking credit for my inventions more often then not." Flug's back pressed against a wall as Black Hat let out an ominous laugh as he became more unhinged, form breaking down a bit more. The blood dripping down those sharp teeth and talons made the sight just a bit more terrifying.

"Getting a backbone after so long seems to be too little too late." Black Hat's voice went back to normal, but with a bit of roughness to it. Black Hat trapped Flug against the wall, tentacles reaching over his shoulders to prevent Flug from running in either direction. The demon brought his face close to Flug's paper bag, teeth bared. "I will not tell you again. Drop. Your. Damn. Toy."

Flug tensed as some smaller tendrils wrapped around his arms while one of Black Hat's clawed, bloody, hands closed over Flug's wrist. Flug raised his head to meet Black Hat's visible eye and felt surprisingly calm despite being menaced by his boss.

Black Hat's teeth clicked together as he tilted his head. He seemed almost distracted at something. A flare of anger seemed to ripple through his form and a sudden motion that normally signaled the demon lashing out in some way was enough for Flug to react.

Despite being pinioned and trapped, Flug grit his teeth and turned the weapon to point back at Black Hat. Flug shook at the way Black Hat bared his teeth again and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Flug had not expected at all for Black Hat to let go of him abruptly nor had Flug thought that he'd ever see his boss collapse to the floor of the lab to writhe in...pain? Flug glanced down at the weapon in his hand, and then at his boss. As he watched the way Black Hat was hissing and coughing, Flug felt...exhilarated? He couldn't ever recall Black Hat on the floor like this.

Black Hat's clawed hands dug into the floor, his body spasming and causing the tentacles that had come out of his back to lash around at random. A sharp, harsh intake of breath and then a low, furious snarl started up as eyes and teeth and saws and all manners of horror burst out of his body, the eyes all fixing on Flug. Black Hat tensed up with bared fangs as tentacles curled protectively around what was left of his humanoid form as Flug got to his feet and approached him.

"I bet you weren't expecting that, were you?" Flug studied Black Hat and the way he had collapsed, and felt sadistically pleased that he had taken the Black Hat unawares. "Did you think you had me completely cowed? That I would always do whatever you asked?" A smile formed across Flug's lips, and he laughed a little. "Well, you were wrong." Flug doesn't quite know what to make of Black Hat's expression. It was like his boss was looking at him but not actually seeing him. Flug ran his his free hand over the gun he still held.

"I think we're going to need to have a little chat about how you treat me here. In fact, I believe you need to make some changes, or I'll see how many shots you can take from my newest invention." Flug titled his head, bag shifting enough that his crazed smile could be seen, coupled with the goggles flashing in the light of the lab. "From the look of it, perhaps one shot is more than enough to incapacitate you."

Black Hat was quiet, which was unusual, as the demon should have been furious by now.

"What, nothing to say?" Flug really should not have approached his boss, but he did anyway, riding out his sudden newfound confidence. Flug crouched down so he could be level with Black Hat's face, or what was left of it that wasn't bared teeth and furious eyes glaring at him malevolently. "I wonder...if I shoot you enough, would I render you harmless enough to be able to experiment on you? I've been rather curious about some things and-"

Black Hat suddenly lurched up and took Flug down to the floor, the eldritch demon snarling in pain when Flug let out a yelp and shot him again. The shot missed, barely grazing Black Hat's side, instead of the first shot that had punched through his chest. Black Hat pinned Flug to the floor of the lab with a gurgling laugh, heedless of the blood that dripped from his fangs still, or the way green blood mixed with the red as he coughed some up. Black Hat's voice was harsh, a mix of half grudging admiration and half pure seething rage.

"What. Was. THAT?" Talons lightly pierced into Flug's shoulders, fangs bared savagely. "What did you do?" Black Hat hacked up more blood out of the various mouths that had appeared around his body. "I should just kill you right now." Black Hat's mouth opened, revealing the sharp fangs as if to go through with the deed.

In a moment of clarity, Flug realized what he had just done, and was horrified about the implications of such an action. Why had he done that? Why had he thought that it was a good idea to shoot Black Hat like that? Flug saved his own life unwittingly by seizing Black Hat's tie, the only bit of clothing he could really make out any more from the demon looming over him. Flug was suddenly frightened over the way he'd just acted. Sure, he liked the idea of being treated better but that really hadn't been the smartest way to go about it and especially not using his newest invention.

"Wh...what...where did that...come from?" Flug's grasp on the weapon loosened, other hand tightening on the tie. "What's going on? Why did I...why did I do that?" Flug winced when one of Black Hat's clawed hands gripped a shoulder tight, the demon's voice furious.

"Exactly what I was going to ask, Flug." Sharp teeth snapped shut close to Flug's face, as if Black Hat had rethought killing him. "And the explanation had been be a good one." The hand grasped tighter, causing Flug let out a pained cry. "You can begin by answering a simple question."

Flug nodded wordlessly, hand letting go of the tie. Flug froze up at the sight of Black Hat hacking up some more greenish blood from many mouths, his expression crazed with pain as he hissed his next words.

"What in the hell were you thinking, making a weapon with holy energy?"

And there it was. Of course Black Hat would know exactly what the weapon had fired off.

Shit.


End file.
